NEWBERG, Ore. – Senior
Jesus Aguilar scored a game-tying strike in the 90th minute, as Bushnell played to a 2-2 draw with George Fox University in their season opener on Tuesday night.
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Bushnell (0-0-1) had control of the game for much of the evening, but almost let it slip away late, before avoiding what would have been their first non-conference loss since 2022.
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Freshman
Liva Rabeary gave Bushnell the early lead, scoring an unassisted goal in the 26th minute, and the Beacons would hold that 1-0 lead for the next 51 minutes.
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Late in the second half, with just 12 minutes remaining, the Bruins put an equalizer on the board when Zac LeVin scored off a pass from Aidan Brouddus. The same combination struck again ten minutes later and with just under two minutes to play, GFU looked to have stolen the game from the Beacons.
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Bushnell continued to press and forced a 35-yard free kick with 30 seconds remaining. A perfect set piece followed as
Tomas Jujihara lofted the ball into the right side of the box, finding the leaping dome of
James Duggan. A perfect header from Duggan nestled into the feet of Aguilar. Unmarked and alone against the keeper, Aguilar took two steps to his left before punching a ground ball back the other direction and into the corner of the net. Â
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After a 7-2 shot advantage for the Beacons in the first half, things evened out in the second with Bushnell earning a 13-12 final edge. Allowing just four shots-on-goal in the contest,
Aaron Lowry picked up a pair of saves.
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Head Coach
Joao Ehlers said, "Tonight was overall a good experience for our first game of the season. George Fox was very organized and gave us a lot of problems to solve. The guys showed a lot of passion to come back and score in the final minute."
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UP NEXT
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The Beacons come home for their Civic Park debut on Thursday when they face NAIA power Stanton University in what should be a good test. The Elks are the defending California Pacific Conference champions and went 11-1-3 last season. Kick off for that game is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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